Lake Charles Needs These Stores And Restaurants

Lake Charles is a great place to live, but it's missing a few things. Who do we need to call to get some of these places to come to Southwest Louisiana?

We're not too proud to beg.

Whataburger

We used to have a Whataburger, but we don't anymore. Why? Who offended the burger gods?! We want names, people. Someone has to be held accountable for this travesty.

From the delicious fries and spicy ketchup to some of the best late night and/or hangover food on the planet, Whataburger has everything growing boys and girls need.

Make it happen.

Jonathan Ferrey

Ikea

Oh, sure. You might think we don't need an Ikea, but that's probably only because you've never been to an Ikea. If you had, you'd understand that it's basically a wonderland of cheap furniture and suspicious meatballs that taste vaguely of horse.

You can spend an entire afternoon just wandering the seven zip codes of the massive store, admission is free and you don't even have to buy anything. It's pretty much a Swedish theme park, only with fewer rides and more impossible to assemble furniture.

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Krispy Kreme

Don't get us wrong. We love our local donut shops, especially on Sunday morning when fatty, sugary goodness becomes part of a balanced breakfast because nobody feels like cooking anything.

Still, there's something magical about a hot Krispy Kreme donut, fresh from the fryer. When that Hot light is on, it's a beacon unto the world that the food of the gods is ready and waiting for us to devour.

We deserve to have them.

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Cheddar's

The nearest Cheddar's is in Beaumont, and it's always busy. Seriously, you can stop by at 2:30 on a random Tuesday afternoon and the place will be packed. Why? Because it's pretty dang good.

Their honey-butter croissants are a gift to mankind, and everyone needs to experience their flaky, buttery goodness at least once. Preferably each week.

They also make a mean Monte Cristo, which is a deep-fried sandwich you shouldn't eat in one sitting. But you will.

Trader Joe's

From things like peanut butter and jelly chocolate bars to roasted coconut chips, the store has a little bit of everything.

And did we mention the cookie butter? Because you have to buy some cookie butter. It's like peanut butter, but made from ground up cookies and maybe unicorn tears or something because that stuff is delicious on a level that shouldn't be legal.

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Whole Foods

For better or worse, everyone knows Lake Charles has a growing hipster community - and nothing speaks directly to the skinny jeans soul of a bearded lumberjack cosplayer quite like the organic everything of a Whole Foods.

Of course, whether Lake Charles actually needs one of these stores depends entirely on whether or not you think we also need more hipsters, because if we build it, they will come.

Sure, they might seem pretentious and all that, but they also tend to attract things like gourmet food trucks and craft beer breweries, so it's kind of a win-win for everyone.

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Buc-ee's

Yeah, it's really just a gas station, but it's a gas station on an epic scale the likes of which mankind was never meant to know. However, the delectable siren's call of forbidden Beaver Nugget fruit proved too tempting for Texas to resist, and so Buc-ee's was born.

Unfortunately, the chain is currently limited to the Lone Star state, although there were plans to open one in Baton Rouge before the deal fell through for some inexplicable reason. We choose to believe it's because the big beaver powers that be decided Lake Charles would be a better location, and we're just waiting for the announcement to come. Any. Day. Now.

If you've never been to one of these holy shrines to American consumerism before, imagine if Stuckey's and Walmart had a baby, and you'll have a vague idea of what a Buc-ee's is all about.

It's a gas station, it's a grocery store, it's a gift shop, it's a pit stop, it's a vacation destination in and of itself.